1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to printers, and more particularly to ordering print cartridges for printers.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems. Known printers are another example of an information handling system.
Printers often include consumables that become depleted with use and then need to be replaced. For example, laser printers typically include toner cartridges, both black and color, that have a limited print capacity. Also for example, ink jet printers typically include ink cartridges, both black and color, which have a limited print capacity. All these consumables need to be replaced with use, often more than once, during the life of the printer.
Many business and individuals need to print documents. In fact, the ability to print documents can be a critical requirement in many cases. Accordingly, printer owners place a high value on the functionality of their printers. Some businesses may own and operate a large number of printers. One challenge that can be encountered is ensuring that printers are available when needed. This involves ensuring that replacements to printer consumables are available when the printer consumable within the printer is depleted.
Some printer owners solve this problem by maintaining a local inventory of replacement printer consumables. To maintain the inventory, the printer owner may assign an employee with the task of ordering new printer consumables when needed. In addition, the business may assign an employee with the task of monitoring the printers to determine when consumables in the printer should be replaced and also to replace the consumables when needed. Unfortunately, this solution can be expensive and time consuming.
Additionally, some printer companies provide printers and printer consumables to customers via the mail and may not have a retail storefront presence. A consumer may ignore the automatic warning of “low ink” levels when generated. When the ink finally runs out, they can only order on-line and at best with next day delivery. With this type of supply chain, it becomes important to provide a printer customer with the forewarning of the need to replace a printer consumable before the consumable is depleted. If a customer waits until the printer consumable is already depleted, then the printer customer would be unable to use their printer until receiving a replacement consumable in the mail. The option of just running down to the store is not available.
It is known to provide coupons to encourage potential customers to purchase products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,098 discloses electronic distribution and redemption of coupons via the Internet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,281 discloses a system for processing coupons which includes assembling multiple encoding and decoding of coupons. U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,519 discloses an electronically controller coupon redemption system.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an automatic print cartridge ordering system which alleviates the problem of running out of printer ink and the inability to access print cartridges locally.